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Alberta Lawyer News

Calgary immigration lawyer asks CBSA to be humane to client

Bjorn Harsanyi, an immigration lawyer in Calgary, is asking the Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) to help his client, Aida Castilla Romero, to return to her native country of Mexico by land.

Romero's work permit has expired and although she is willing to go home, she is afraid to get on a plane because she fears her lungs might collapse due to a rare disease that she has been diagnosed with.

Because of her health condition, Romero's lungs had collapsed a year after she came to Canada to work. While getting treatment, the terms of Romero's work permit ended. She was refused an extension and was denied a refugee status and eventually received a deportation order.

Cautioned by a doctor against flying as it would cause her lungs to collapse again; Romero through Harsanyi asked the CBSA to allow her to go back to Mexico by land. This, however, was denied too.

Harsanyi is appealing for the CBSA to help his client get a visa so she can travel to Mexico by land passing through the US as this is within the agency's capabilities.

There has been no word yet from the CBSA and Romero fears that she would be forced to board a plane when the deportation date arrives, least she would get arrested again which is what happened when her lawyer had informed the CBSA of her growing fears. They had deemed she would not get on her deportation flight.

Lawyers of beating death suspect want him to stay in Calgary

The 19-year-old Rider has been accused of beating to death Christa Cachene last October and he is now facing second-degree murder charges.

Williamson told Judge Jim Ogle of the provincial court that having Rider in Edmonton is making it very hard to communicate with him especially for Calgary defence lawyer Balfour Der, who is acting as the lead counsel for his defence.

The lawyer added that they would have to meet with Rider several times which is why they need him to be in Calgary.

Judge Ogle said he will make the order, although he is hesitant about doing so and he wants to know first the impact of such move from remand officers.

Frying pan death suspect mentally cleared to face trial

Posted Jun 26, 2015 on www.calgarysun.com

The trial for the 2012 death of Gatleak Thor Metkurjock will now proceed after the suspect has been declared as mentally fit to stand trial following a psychiatric assessment.

The suspect, who was 17 years old at the time of the incident, is facing second-degree murder charges for allegedly bashing Thor Metkurjock in the head with a frying pan.

At that time, Thor Metkurjock and the suspect was attending a house party. The victim had passed out drunk and was being brought out. He had woken up and was belligerent so the suspect allegedly got a frying pan and hit him with it.

Canada Lawyer News

Calgary defence lawyer says client was wrongly accused

Sandoval-Barillas is on trial for allegedly sexually assaulting a then 16-year-old girl October of 2013 close to the Rundle LRT station. He has also been accused of threatening her with a weapon.

Milczarek told the jury that the victim is accusing his client whom she did see at the LRT Station minutes before the assault happened.

The lawyer further added that because the victim was intoxicated, she had wrongly assumed that it was his client who had assaulted her but that it wasn't him and someone else.

However, the crown prosecutor has contradicted Milczarek's defense of his client and said that Sandoval-Barillas' claim that he had left the station a few minutes after the victim did to get a cab and not to follow and assault her, was not believable.

A video taken by surveillance cameras had the two taking a train at the Whitehorn station.

After serving her conditional sentence, Pare will be made to undergo probation for a year and a half.

Woman sentenced to prison for injecting silicone into other women's butts

Posted Mar 26, 2015 on www.vicnews.com

Marilyn Reid received an eight-year prison sentence for using silicone oil in performing butt lifts on her women clients without their knowledge.

Earlier in January, Reid had submitted a guilty plea to eight counts of aggravated assault.

According to the sentencing judge, Reid put the lives of her clients in danger without thought to their safety because she was only thinking of the profit that she would be getting.

Reid deceived her clients by promising them that she would be injecting PMMA, a substance that could only be acquired through the black market anyway because it is not approved for cosmetic surgery by Health Canada.

Four of Reid's five victims suffered serious injuries. Medical practitioners also had a hard time in treating them because they had no idea what was injected into their butts.

The Crown had asked for between 10 to 12-year sentence while Toronto lawyer Calvin Barry countered with 30 months.

Reid, however, will only be serving a little more than five years because the judge credited the time that she had spent in custody.